A Ship in Harbor is Safe

"Oh my God," Jordan says as he eagerly cuts into his pancakes with the fork in his left hand, "I'm so hungry for real food."

Athena watches as Jordan shoves an unhealthy amount of fluffy, triangles of pancake into his mouth. She turns back to the television, "you eat like a Neanderthal."

Speaking with a mouthful, Jordan's words make no sense.

"You'll have to excuse me," Athena says, leaning forward and back, handing Jordan his glass of milk, "I don't speak mouthful."

He takes a drink and sets the cup down. "I still don't know what that means. And you should be fluent in mouthful."

"It's like a caveman. And, I'm not because you wouldn't dare do that at your mother's table."

"Good thing we're not at a table right now, huh?" Jordan smirks, taking another large bite.

Athena smirks, pulling her foot closer to her opposite leg.

Both blondes look away from the television when Jordan's phone starts ringing from the coffee table.

"Can you get that?"

Athena quickly leans forward to grab the phone before falling back. "It's Eric."

"Answer it."

"Hello?"

Eric scoffs, "where's my brother?"

"Whoa there," Athena furrows her eyebrows. "Manners."

Jordan looks out of the corner of his eye.

"Where is Jordan, Athena?"

Athena rolls her eyes, "he's eating."

"Can I talk to him?"

"He's kinda limited to one hand right now, so unless he's gonna stop eating, then no."

Eric makes a noise, "give him the phone."

Jordan reluctantly shakes his head, "put it on speaker."

Athena puts the call on speaker, holding the phone for Jordan.

"Jordan?"

"Yeah?"

"Did the thought of calling me not cross your mind, or something?"

Jordan shrugs, "I called Mom."

"Yeah, and I had to find out from a press release that you got surgery? What the fuck, Jordan?"

"I literally just got home this morning."

"You could've called me while you were in the hospital!"

Jordan rolls his eyes, "it was an effort to call Mom, okay? They had me on so many pain pills, Eric. I didn't have energy, alright?"

"So, what, you've got Athena taking care of you now?"

"She's been taking care of me since I got hit," Jordan takes another bite of pancake. "Why do you ask?"

"No reason," Eric says quickly. "I gotta go. Call me later when you can talk."

"Alright," Jordan says.

The line cuts off quickly and Athena hangs up.

"It's safe to say that Eric hates me."

Jordan shakes his head, "no. He's just pissy right now. I'll find out what his deal is later."

Athena nods, leaning away when Jordan holds out his fork with pancake triangles on it. "I don't want pancakes."

"C'mon, you made them. You have to try a bite."

"What rulebook says that?"

"Mine," he says.

Scrunching her nose, Athena takes the bite and lets Jordan take his fork back as she chews. "Oh my God," she whines, halfway done chewing. "These are disgusting, Bubba. How are you eating them?"

"What? They're good," he laughs, watching her grab the glass of milk and sipping on it.

She quickly shakes her head, "no. They're really plain."

"There's no butter...?" He shrugs, taking another bite.

Athena shakes her head, "that's gross. And is that syrup even good anymore?"

"Yes, it's still good. I brought it down here with me before season."

"You packed syrup?"

He nods, "yes."

Hugging her knees, Athena tries to hide her giggles.

"Laugh it up," Jordan nods, eating the last bite of his pancakes. "Grade A syrup. It's what makes this house a home."

Athena begins coughing between her laughs. "Jordan, c'mon," she smiles as she takes his plate. "You're killin' me."



"So," Athena whispers quietly, looking over at Jordan, "what's up?"

He smiles, "what do you mean?"

She shrugs, "we haven't really talked in a while."

"What do wanna talk about?"

Athena shrugs, "how are you and Heather?"

"I left her," Jordan answers simply.

Turning onto her side, Athena props her head up on her left hand. Her other hand rests in the pair of borrowed pajama pants covering her from the hips down. "Why would you do that?"

"I wasn't happy anymore, I guess."

"You guess?"

He shrugs, "I got tired of fighting. I know I could do better."

Athena nods.

"You excited about tomorrow?"

She nods again, "they won two of the games. Sid should be fine."

"Yeah, let's hope."

Athena blinks slowly, "I don't understand why you're acting this way, Jordan."

"Yeah, I don't half the time, either."

She slowly lies her head down, "it's like you're angry... but you're not."

"What? Just because I don't direct it toward you?" Jordan shakes his head. "I don't wanna talk about this."

"You never wanna talk about it."

He nods, "you're right, I don't."

"You can't just let... whatever this is fester, Jordan."

"Trust me, it won't."

Athena turns back around and rests her head back on her pillow before closing her eyes.



"I am so happy to see you," Sidney says.

Athena smiles, feeling Sidney's muscles begin to relax under her own. "I missed you."

"I missed you more," he smiles, catching her lips with his.

Athena's hands rest on the base of Sidney's neck and he begins walking before she can set her feet back on the ground. “Where are we going?”

“Oh, you know where we’re going,” Sidney smirks, moving one of his hands to the back of Athena’s head, kissing her again.